Ohio state michigan basketball game 2014

Since then, the Wolverines hadn't even won two straight games in the league tourney and had lost all six times it played the dreaded Buckeyes in Indianapolis or Chicago. The top-seeded Wolverines started the game with an offensive flurry and ended it with a stout defensive stretch that ended with Buckeyes guard Aaron Craft losing control of the ball as he tried a 3-pointer that could have forced overtime.

Instead, the Wolverines came up with the loose ball to seal it. Stauskas finished with 18 points. Ohio native Caris LeVert had 17 points and seven rebounds and Glenn Robinson III wound up with 11 points including two free throws that gave Michigan the lead for good with to play. The Wolverines won their seventh straight in large part because they were 12 of 23 on 3-pointers against the Big Ten's top-rated 3-point defense and didn't a basket over the final four minutes.

The only thing sweeter than beating the Buckeyes would be winning Sunday's title game against rival Michigan State, the No. The Wolverines swept the two-game series with the Spartans. A win would likely put them in position to be considered for a top seed in next week's NCAA tournament. They're just really difficult to score points on," coach John Beiliein said, referring to the Badgers, Buckeyes and Spartans.

While he did grab 6 rebounds, Ohio State has to have Lenzelle to be a consistent threat on the offensive side of the ball. That number represents the amount of transition opportunities that Ohio State had against Michigan in their last meeting. For a team that struggles on the offensive side of things, the Buckeyes are going to have to increase their fast break chances to put pressure on the Wolverines early.

That number represents a career-high in points for Ohio State's LaQuinton Ross , who came up big for the Buckeyes in both of their tournament games. Ross was coming off of setting a career-high in rebounds against Purdue 15 and will need another great effort against Michigan if Ohio State wants to win. The length, in feet give or take , of Evan Turner's game-winning, buzzer-beating heave in that beat Michigan in the conference quarterfinals.

Why is that statistically important for this game? It's not, but it does provide a great chance to revisit that game one more time.

What can be said about Mr. Swoon himself that hasn't already been said? He is the only Buckeye with 1, points, assists, steals, and rebounds in a career. With this being his last game against That Team Up North, expect a super-human effort from him in this game. LaQuinton Ross might not have lived up to expectations this season, but the 6'8 junior forward has helped the Buckeyes overcome their past two opponents while setting career highs in points and rebounds.

And get this: Ross became the fourth Buckeye 5th instance to have multiple double-doubles in a single Big Ten Tournament. In three of the previous four instances, that player went on to be named the tournament's most outstanding player provided they go on to win the Big Ten championship.

Robinson had 15 points against the Illini on Friday and added 7 rebounds as well. A big game from him could spell big trouble for the Buckeyes on Saturday.

Nik Stauskas has been Michigan's go-to scorer for the year and has succeeded in leading them to a Big Ten regular season championship. Against Illinois, Stauskas had 19 points, going from the line. It would be in Ohio State's best interest not to foul the sophomore whenever possible, because there's a good chance he's going to hit those shots.

Michigan controlled the s, but Ohio State controlled much of the s. Some of the historical highlights of the series occurred in and During the season, Ohio State won the National Championship and beat Michigan by a final score of On the flip side, during the season, Michigan swept Ohio State in route to their National Championship including a win on the road.

When Thad Matta become Ohio State's head coach during the season, he not only built some of the best teams in the nation, but he also led a dominating run over the Wolverines. Matta won his first 7 games against Michigan and 9 out of his first Outside of a slip-up in , the Buckeyes were perfect against "That School Up North" for Matta's first 5 seasons. Even now, Matta still has an impressive record against Michigan. John Beilein entered Ann Arbor after one of the darkest periods in Michigan basketball history.

When Beilein arrived on campus, Michigan had missed the NCAA Tournament for 8 straight seasons and had finished 7th or worse in the Big Ten in the three preceding seasons. Clearly, there was work to do. Beilein was able to knock off the Buckeyes in his first season at Michigan to start , but struggled for the next three seasons.

Entering , Michigan had just a record under Beilein against Ohio State. However, the Wolverines have had the upper hand in recent meetings.

Michigan not only swept the Buckeyes during the season, but they won the final meeting between the two in the season, giving Michigan 3 in a row. Add in the final regular season meeting of the season and it gives Michigan 4 out of the last 6 over their arch-rivals.

Though Michigan still has some work to do to "even things out," they have been able to put together a few good seasons. What's even more significant about Michigan's recent run is that both teams have been good. This has not been a case of Michigan beating up on terrible OSU teams.

For most teams, that's a pretty good year, which shows that Michigan has put this run together despite facing good Buckeye squads. It's difficult to compare recruiting between teams because of the vast differences in styles, programs, and rosters. While Michigan is largely regarded as an offensively driven team, Ohio State is largely regarded as a defensively driven team.

Each team recruits different players with different skillsets at different times. Despite the issues, let's at least take a look at how things have been going for each program. One thing to note is that I'm going to use the recruiting classes. With today's quick turnover in rosters, it's just too problematic to go much further. Here is the breakdown between the programs:. In terms of recruiting, Ohio State definitely has the advantage over the to classes, at least according to Sports.

However, there are a few things worth acknowledging about this comparison. First, Michigan's class consisted of many late commitments due to several players leaving for the NBA or transferring. Late additions are always a touchy subject because they're usually pretty hard to predict. Just look at Spike Albrecht and Caris LeVert, who were both late additions, but have been pretty productive for Michigan.

Plus, nobody is quite sure whether Austin Hatch will play long term in the class, so that's a bit of a wildcard. The other thing to consider is that Michigan's class is completely empty right now. OSU has been recruiting at a blistering pace in , but it's still early. Michigan's class is not going to be empty, so we really don't know how things are going to shake out there. As of now, I'm assuming that OSU will probably have the better class, but Michigan is in on some top end guys like Jalen Brunson and Jalen Coleman, so don't count them out yet.